Chapter 813 - 18: Foremost in Hearing · Ananda

Chapter 813: Chapter 18: Foremost in Hearing · Ananda

"Divine Power first? Mokgalana?"

Slightly frowning, Shangyang obviously hadn’t heard of Mokgalana’s name.

But from the adjective "Divine Power first," Shangyang could sense Mokgalana’s inherent pride.

An existence that could receive such a title, even in the future, would certainly be anything but ordinary.

Besides, Shangyang didn’t believe that all the arhats under Amitabha could, like Mokgalana, have their consciousness descend upon their past incarnations.

"What is your purpose for coming to this era?"

"Don’t tell me you chose to descend at this sensitive time purely because this incarnation called for your help."

Shangyang didn’t believe a word of Mokgalana’s earlier nonsense.

However, by calling this pigeon person an "incarnation," it was evident that Shangyang acknowledged Mokgalana’s identity.

At the very least, Shangyang’s hostility toward Mokgalana had indeed diminished.

"Buddhism and Taoism coexist, Buddhism is fundamentally Tao."

"Now is the dawn before the birth of the Pure Yang Tao Ancestor, and a natural Buddha’s Son will be born accordingly."

"I have descended this time to guard the Tao for the Buddha’s Son, with no other purpose."

Staring at Mokgalana suspiciously, Shangyang still doesn’t believe him.

"So you future Buddhas are always so mysterious..."

"I believe in causality but not fatalism."

"Your fatalism is meaningless to me, even somewhat laughable."

Causality is the trajectory of all things, the basic law of the flow of the River of Time, with cause there must be effect.

But fatalism is a logic that reverses causality, it’s a predestination theory that completely contradicts Shangyang’s understanding.

To say nothing else, the birth and growth of the Tao Ancestor cannot be explained by so-called "fatalism"—no one can determine his fate.

"In fact, I don’t believe in fate either."

To Shangyang’s surprise, Mokgalana started laughing at this point.

"Among my Buddha’s disciples, those who steadfastly believe in ’fatalism’ are the majority."

"Some even become Fallen Demons, firmly believing that fate is an unalterable predestined causality, an inevitable trend in world development."

"Only Ananda and I believe that the Tao Ancestor’s saying ’Human determination can overcome destiny’ speaks the essence of causality."

At this point, Mokgalana paused slightly.

"Yuanshi Tianzun is most skilled at reversing cause for effect..."

"He once used this to lock in the effects of all beings, achieving the Supreme Daluo Golden Immortal."

"Though I am not like Yuanshi Tianzun, I too want to try and see if I can become the ’initial cause’ for the birth of the Buddha’s Son."

Hearing this, Shangyang suddenly understood, and his gaze toward Mokgalana became somewhat peculiar.

"So, you don’t think the birth of the Buddha’s Son is a natural occurrence?"

"On the contrary, the reason you appear in this era is to facilitate the birth of the Buddha’s Son? To promote the coexistence of Buddhism and Taoism you spoke of?"

Not believing in so-called "fatalism," but believing he can influence future causality.

Shangyang didn’t know if this was more laughable than those steadfast believers in "fatalism."

But there’s no doubt that Mokgalana indeed has the ability to match this arrogance.

"If understood in a worldly sense, you could indeed think of it this way."

Clearly just a simple answer, yet Mokgalana’s words contain an imperceptible persistence.

Acutely perceiving that trace of anomaly, Shangyang instinctively frowned.

Shangyang was very familiar with this expression because he, too, once possessed such persistence—almost a martyr-like determination.

Likewise, this also means Mokgalana’s words aren’t just a simple answer, but a hypnotic "self-brainwashing."

[Then the problem arises, why does he self-brainwash?]

[Is it because promoting the birth of the Buddha’s Son is very difficult? Or does he have to sacrifice something for it?]

A thought flashed through Shangyang’s mind, but he didn’t continue to inquire further.

Because he knew Mokgalana couldn’t possibly divulge such important matters to him.

Besides, Shangyang had no interest in knowing those chaotic things.

"You seemed to mention earlier that there is another person who shares the same belief as you..."

"That person named Ananda must have come to this era with you too!"

Clearly a question, yet Shangyang spoke the sentence with unusual certainty.

"Where is he now? Do you still have contact with each other?"

Facing Shangyang’s inquiry, Mokgalana, who had previously seemed forthcoming, suddenly fell silent without warning.

Luckily, the silence didn’t last long.

After all, if Mokgalana wanted to leave this place, he had to pass Shangyang’s test first.

Having earned the other’s trust with difficulty, Mokgalana didn’t want to offend him over this apparent fact.

"I am known as ’Divine Power first,’ my junior as ’most knowledgeable first.’"

"In terms of wisdom, he far surpasses me, so he should have descended to this era earlier than I..."

Suddenly shaking his head, Mokgalana quickly corrected himself.

"No, he definitely came to this era before me, perhaps even having laid plans long ago."

"However, he is more extreme than I, I think..."

Before Mokgalana could finish his sentence, Shangyang’s expression changed slightly across from him, and an ominous feeling welled up.

"Wait? This feeling..."

"The River of Time ripples again? Is this related to you guys?"

...........................

Time rewinds to a few days before, in the far west, at the land of Kunlun.

It’s not far from the West Sea here, as far as the eye can see there are high mountains and vast seas.

However, this West Sea is different from the prosperous East Sea, the frigid North Sea, and the scorching South Sea; it holds a primitive and wild beauty.

Even with the Tao Ancestor widely spreading Taoist Skill and enlightening beings, the ecology here remains highly primitive.

Wild beasts are the norm here, Spirit Monsters can be seen everywhere...

Even those Barbarian Gods, which have disappeared in other regions, are not uncommon here.

If one looks into the distance, they’ll find traces of civilization also exist in the depths of the West Sea.

Although these traces of civilization are sparse, mostly consisting of the travels left by Mountain People driving steel warships, there is also a considerable portion that is locally nurtured.

The owners of these traces are the Dragon Race of the West Sea, the true rulers who unify this ocean.

Beneath the West Sea Dragon Race are countless Shrimp Soldiers and Crab Generals, as well as those Loose Cultivators attempting to explore the secrets of this area.

Especially at the junction of Kunlun and the West Sea.

Those Barbarian Gods, possessing great Divine Power yet having wisdom like regular wild beasts, become one of the reasons many Loose Cultivators come here.

One of them is Xu Jia, gaunt and with vitality almost depleted.

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